Neuropathic chest pain after aortic valve replacement via minithoracotomy! Any clues?

[Uni&Suki]

Hello everyone,

I am very stoked to find this forum and how helpful it is to hear about others' experiences in dealing with the whole conundrum of valve-related diseases/issues. I recently underwent an aortic valve replacement with a mechanical valve (St Jude) via a minithoracotomy. My hospital course was smooth, and I was discharged four days after the surgery. Besides the pain around the surgical incision, which is tolerable with painkillers, I have neuropathic pain (numbness, tingling, and shooting pain) around the incision site. For the people who underwent valve replacement surgery via minithoracotomy or sternotomy, did you have the same complaint? Did it resolve with time? How long did it take for the pain to go away or become better? Were you prescribed any medications to help with the pain?

I would like to hear about the experience of people who have/had the same complaint! I am afraid this might turn into a chronic issue, and I have to live with it forever

 

[pellicle]

welcome

I understood that it does abate in many cases (but I don't know the stats), I'm not sure if your situation is the same as one of our other members, but as I know he's pretty busy I'll mention him in in case he has a chance to look at this tomorrow. @Timmay may have some input on this.

Best wishes

 

[carolinemc]

Hello everyone,

I am very stoked to find this forum and how helpful it is to hear about others' experiences in dealing with the whole conundrum of valve-related diseases/issues. I recently underwent an aortic valve replacement with a mechanical valve (St Jude) via a minithoracotomy. My hospital course was smooth, and I was discharged four days after the surgery. Besides the pain around the surgical incision, which is tolerable with painkillers, I have neuropathic pain (numbness, tingling, and shooting pain) around the incision site. For the people who underwent valve replacement surgery via minithoracotomy or sternotomy, did you have the same complaint? Did it resolve with time? How long did it take for the pain to go away or become better? Were you prescribed any medications to help with the pain?

I would like to hear about the experience of people who have/had the same complaint! I am afraid this might turn into a chronic issue, and I have to live with it forever

Most of us have issues after surgery, due to the muscles have to heal a long time after bypass. It usually takes a year for the muscles to completely heal from the trauma of surgery. The pain will go away after a short time. And if you work on a computer, be sure to straighten up after bending over the keyboard. For you can get stiff in one position. We all have had this issue and it does pass in short time. Keep hanging in there and we are here to share our experiences.

 

[Uni&Suki]

Most of us have issues after surgery, due to the muscles have to heal a long time after bypass. It usually takes a year for the muscles to completely heal from the trauma of surgery. The pain will go away after a short time. And if you work on a computer, be sure to straighten up after bending over the keyboard. For you can get stiff in one position. We all have had this issue and it does pass in short time. Keep hanging in there and we are here to share our experiences.

Thank you for the response! This is reassuring

 

[Uni&Suki]

Most of us have issues after surgery, due to the muscles have to heal a long time after bypass. It usually takes a year for the muscles to completely heal from the trauma of surgery. The pain will go away after a short time. And if you work on a computer, be sure to straighten up after bending over the keyboard. For you can get stiff in one position. We all have had this issue and it does pass in short time. Keep hanging in there and we are here to share our experiences.

Thanks for your kind words! I totally understand that the healing process is lengthy will take time

 

[Timmay]

Thanks pellicle for drawing my attention to this.

Unfortunately, I can’t help too much. I never had “numbness, tingling, and shooting pain) around the incision site”.
My full sternotomy incision wasn’t numb or painful. In fact, I never took a single painkiller after day 3 in the hospital. I left on day 4.

That said, I did have the following …

Very slight possible nerve damage in my neck due to the huge IV. When I touch my chin, I feel like someone is tickling my neck. No pain.

I had about 24-48 hours of spontaneous diaphragm spasms that might be linked to possible phrenic nerve swelling that can happen after OHS.

I’ve also had the normal “takes awhile to heal” musculoskeletal issues. I think this is what pellicle is remembering. In fact, it’s been 6 months since my surgery and I still have some of this. If someone bear hugs me it doesn’t feel fully healed. I can’t lay on my right side for too long without my shoulder aching. Sneezing has some teeny weeny pain (like a 0.5 on a scale of 1-10).

 

[pellicle]

I’ve also had the normal “takes awhile to heal” musculoskeletal issues. I think this is what pellicle is remembering

That's right, I thought they may have been related
Thanks

 

[Survived03]

I had full OHS and full sternotomy in 2003. The main muscle skeletal and nerve issues were the following:
1. Loss of feeling around the right upper chest incision required for cardiopulmonary bypass. The full sense of touch has never returned but no big deal.
2. Pain in my lower right rib cage. This felt like a constant ache and lasted about 3-4 weeks. Ice helped. We assumed it was probably some minor trauma associated with spreading ribs and sternum. It does go away.
3. Sternum pain well after the incision had healed. It was further pinpointed to the cartilage that connects the ribs and sternum. This is called costal cartilage. Over time the pain went away but does pop up from time to time.

All of these were manageable and long term doesn’t interfere with day to day life. I have other muscle skeletal surgeries and all of them come with some nerve, bone and muscle healing. The body is very forgiving. Good luck.

 

[Uni&Suki]

Thanks pellicle for drawing my attention to this.

Unfortunately, I can’t help too much. I never had “numbness, tingling, and shooting pain) around the incision site”.
My full sternotomy incision wasn’t numb or painful. In fact, I never took a single painkiller after day 3 in the hospital. I left on day 4.

That said, I did have the following …

Very slight possible nerve damage in my neck due to the huge IV. When I touch my chin, I feel like someone is tickling my neck. No pain.

I had about 24-48 hours of spontaneous diaphragm spasms that might be linked to possible phrenic nerve swelling that can happen after OHS.

I’ve also had the normal “takes awhile to heal” musculoskeletal issues. I think this is what pellicle is remembering. In fact, it’s been 6 months since my surgery and I still have some of this. If someone bear hugs me it doesn’t feel fully healed. I can’t lay on my right side for too long without my shoulder aching. Sneezing has some teeny weeny pain (like a 0.5 on a scale of 1-10).

Thank you for the response! I hope all your complaints get better with time

 

[Uni&Suki]

I had full OHS and full sternotomy in 2003. The main muscle skeletal and nerve issues were the following:
1. Loss of feeling around the right upper chest incision required for cardiopulmonary bypass. The full sense of touch has never returned but no big deal.
2. Pain in my lower right rib cage. This felt like a constant ache and lasted about 3-4 weeks. Ice helped. We assumed it was probably some minor trauma associated with spreading ribs and sternum. It does go away.
3. Sternum pain well after the incision had healed. It was further pinpointed to the cartilage that connects the ribs and sternum. This is called costal cartilage. Over time the pain went away but does pop up from time to time.

All of these were manageable and long term doesn’t interfere with day to day life. I have other muscle skeletal surgeries and all of them come with some nerve, bone and muscle healing. The body is very forgiving. Good luck.

Thank you for the response! My main issue is numbness and not pain. During mini-thoracotomy, they make a small incision (3-4 inches) into the intercostal space which contains nerves. To make the surgical field bigger, they use a soft tissue retractor that compresses the nerve and its blood supply. This will induce some nerve damage (by compressing its blood supply) and it will take a while for the nerve to recover from the ischemic injury. My numbness has slightly improved but it will take a longer time to see significant changes.

The recovery journey takes time, and I am taking things one step at a time

 

[Cris N]

In addition to following the cardiac rehab therapist's guidance he gave me some excellent advice. Massage the areas of pain as it helps to disburse the fluids that collect around the wounded areas causing some uncomfortable swelling. Even now, some 17 years after my surgery I still get fluid accumulation occasionally. Gentle massage gets rid of it almost immediately.